Jordan, Thurs, 10/9/25

 

Let me say that I was woefully unprepared for this phase of our trip (though I wasn't aware of it). Jordan was sort of an add on anyway -- you know, as long as you're 7,000+ miles from home and in the neighborhood, why not see it if you can?  After landing at the Amman airport, we were met by Faris, our guide while in Jordan, and were whisked away by auto south toward Petra, which ended up being an all-day trip.  When I looked at the map of Jordan at home, Petra appeared to be like 20 miles from Amman; nope, it's 150 miles.  The plan was to stop on our way to tour Karak, followed by Little Petra, neither of which I'd ever heard of.  But, okay, let's go!

This is what much of Jordan looks like.

Treeless.  Rocky!

And this -- goats crossing the road in front of our car.

While on the Kings Highway, we crossed the Mujib Dam,

then climbed yonder mountain at right.

Seeing villages interspersed.

Maybe around the halfway point of our drive on Kings Highway, Karak Archeological Castle loomed atop a mountain in front of us.  It's only 15 miles east of the Dead Sea and at the top we could just barely make out the blue of the sea in the distance.  (So close to Israel!)  This is one of those places that had its beginning way back in the 7th Century BCE when it was a capital city of ancient Moab. Nowadays Karak is best known for its relevance in the Crusades. 

Medieval Karak Castle was built in the 12th Century, and it was the stronghold for Crusaders in their ongoing war between them and Saladin's army.  It was only in their hands for 46 years before surrendering to Saladin in 1188. There isn't much left of the castle, but seeing and exploring the underground passages and etc., was kinda fun.

Faris and Jimmy.

Very few others here.

Lots of dark passages.  Interesting place to visit.

Great views from the mountaintop.

As we left, we encountered "juice" man.  His specialty was on-the-spot-squeezed pomegranate and orange juices mixed in a go-cup.  A bit tart, but very tasty and full of good juju to keep us healthy.  We saw these juice stands in Turkey, too.

From Karak, we motored on.  Jimmy, above, is entering Little Petra. The Arabic name of Little Petra is Siq al-Barid, which means "cold canyon," as in no sunlight enters in this narrow, steep-sided canyon.

Siq-al-Barid.  I was amazed at what we saw here.  Apparently, Little Petra was used by ancient Nabateans (who knew?) as a sort of reception area for travelers from other lands, a place for them to stay before granting them access to Petra.  (Petra was on the spice trade route.)

"The Painted Biclinium." I didn't know what that meant, so I looked it up. This place is called Painted House, a rock-cut biclinium, or smaller dining room, with well-preserved wall paintings and famous frescoes you can see on the ceiling. We didn't use the stairs to go up, so we missed the frescoes. (not sure if it's even allowed)

The Temple Above Cave Rooms, believed to have been used as a ceremonial building, and possibly for rituals, is a significant archaeological site carved into the sandstone cliffs. Holy cow -- carved!  It's one of the most fascinating sights in Little Petra. The temple is supported by two massive stone columns and features intricate details, including Nabataean horn capitals and a two-level structure.  The top level was off limits, but we went in the bottom caves (which were empty). 

As we exited, a young Bedouin boy was offering rides on "Bob the Camel," but we ixnayed.  A photo was okay.  We also passed by the Bedouin vendors, who had their wares set up on tables at the exit.  Some of the Bedouin vendors still sleep in the caves.  I believe they're "grandfathered" in.

I snapped a pic from the moving auto of this Bedouin temporary community near Little Petra.  Jordan reminded me a bit of Morocco in this respect, with their Bedouin tribe camps.

We had many thousands of steps on our feet by the time we finally made it to the Mövenpick Petra Hotel in time for dinner.  I can tell you we were both exhausted by the time we finished dinner (up since 3:30am!).  And, get this -- the hotel is directly across a road from the Petra entrance, so tomorrow all we have to do is walk out the door and we're there!  Faris said if you think Little Petra is "really something," wait till you see Petra -- the real deal!